Many of the most prominent DSLR manufacturers have had to halt production due to the tremendous flooding in Thailand. Reports of factory closings have been coming in for weeks, but the extent of the effects on DSLR availability is emerging slowly.

Understandably, companies such as Nikon Canon, Sony don’t want their publicity departments putting out press releases with negative info, but things are looking bleak in the short term for DSLR makers, their supply chains, and for us DSLR buyers and enthusiastic users.

What this means to us, aside from concerns about the Thai people displaced by the floods and out of work, is the limited digital camera stocks now and in the foreseeable future. DSLR’s will be in short supply, and new model introduction and production will be delayed indefinitely.

The reports are coming in that the entire supply chain of parts and assemblies of DSLR’s, lenses, and associated products will be delayed by the factory closings. After the Japan disasters of tsunami and nuclear contamination, this new wave of natural (and human influenced) disaster will make the market for digital camera equipment much more volatile for consumers. Expect prices and availability to be jumping around, especially as we head into the ‘holiday’ season.

It looks like we’ll be seeing additional pressure on prices in the coming months, alas.